Nguyen, M.H.; Le, T.T.; Meirmanov, S. Depression, Acculturative Stress, and Social Connectedness among International University Students in Japan: A Statistical Investigation. Sustainability2019, 11, 878.
Nguyen, M.H.; Le, T.T.; Meirmanov, S. Depression, Acculturative Stress, and Social Connectedness among International University Students in Japan: A Statistical Investigation. Sustainability 2019, 11, 878.
Nguyen, M.H.; Le, T.T.; Meirmanov, S. Depression, Acculturative Stress, and Social Connectedness among International University Students in Japan: A Statistical Investigation. Sustainability2019, 11, 878.
Nguyen, M.H.; Le, T.T.; Meirmanov, S. Depression, Acculturative Stress, and Social Connectedness among International University Students in Japan: A Statistical Investigation. Sustainability 2019, 11, 878.
Abstract
(1) This study aimed to examine the prevalence of depression and its correlation with acculturative Stress and Social Connectedness among domestic and overseas students in Japan International University.
(2) Methods:
A Web-based survey was distributed among students of International University, which resulted in 263 responses. On the survey together with socio-demographic data, a nine-item tool from the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), was used to measure the prevalence of Depression and its relationship with socio-demographic data, Social Connectedness Scale was used to measure Social Connectedness, and Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS) was used to measured acculturative stress.
(3) Results:
Depression was significantly high in international and domestic students (37.81% and 29.85% respectively). English language proficiency and students age (20 years old) showed a significant correlation with depression among domestic students (β=-1.63, p=0.038 and β=2.24, p=0.048). Stay length (third year) also displayed a significant correlation with depression among international students (β=1.08, p=0.032).
Among international and domestic students statistically significant positive correlation between depression and acculturative stress, negative associations of social connectedness with depression and acculturative stress were also found.
Suicidal or self-hurting ideation thoughts are found among around 20% of all students.
(4) Conclusions:
These findings indicate a relatively high prevalence of depression among students of International University, and overseas students are more affected. Depression, Acculturation stress and Social Connectedness show statistically strong intercorrelation, which highlights the need of host University to recognise the role of Acculturation and Social Connectedness in the development of Depression among students.
Keywords
depression; acculturation stress; social connectedness; international students, university students, ASSIS, suicidal ideation
Subject
Social Sciences, Education
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
